What I Do and Why

How does someone end up dedicating a lifetime to Zen practice? In this opening video, Tatsudo Nicole Baden shares the story of how it began - not with a plan, but with a simple question: How do you make a decision that is truly your own? This channel invites you to discover what is already here beneath the surface, beyond effort and striving and to realize that nothing in you needs to be fixed for clarity to emerge. If you are exploring meditation, mindfulness, Zen Buddhism, or just seeking, this practice and this channel is for you. From a meditation cushion in the Black Forest at 4:00 in the morning, to decades of practice, study in psychology, and the ongoing exploration of how language can direct attention toward a more fully inhabited life. "I felt like my feet were starting to actually stand on the ground for the first time." Whether you are new to meditation, or deepening an existing path, this is a place to begin and begin again. Zen Buddhist teachings on the space between knowing and living, grounded in stillness, awareness, meditation, and the possibility of real transformation. I’m Nicole Baden, Tatsudo. I share Zen not as something to believe, but as something to experience with your whole body, your whole life. Direct & Alive. I practice and teach in the Soto Zen lineage of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, whose work Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind continues to guide countless practitioners. I am a Dharma successor of Zentatsu Baker Roshi. I direct two Zen centers, in the Black Forest, Germany, and in Crestone, Colorado, and founded the Dharma Academy, an evolving online Zen practice space. The Dharma Academy offers ways to practice together across distance: through the essential practice of Zazen, shared study spaces, and an emerging community where meditation and awareness can be lived in daily life. It is a living, growing field shaped by the people who participate in it. The vision is simple: that stillness has the power to transform how we live and, over time, how we meet ourselves and engage the world. Newsletter: Dharma Academy updates + upcoming events 👉 courses.dharmaacademy.com/dharma-academy-news Enter a Free-3 Day Journey - Experience the practice on Dharma Academy: 👉 https://courses.dharmaacademy.com/fre... Learn more about the Dharma Sangha Practice Centers: 👉 Dharma Sangha US https://www.dharmasangha.org 👉 Dharma Sangha Europe https://www.dharma-sangha.de Learn more about the Dharma Academy: 👉 https://www.dharmaacademy.com #zen #buddhism #zenteachings #mindfulness #meditationpractice #dharma #bodhisattva #beginnersmind #tatsudonicolebaden #nicolebadenroshi #tatsudoroshi #zenbuddhism #roshi #dharmaacademy #zenpractice